Following an explosive and exciting start to the transfer window for Sunderland, things have seemingly gone quiet on the incomings front at the Stadium of Light.

Four new young talents arrived in June to freshen up Tony Mowbray’s squad, but the recruitment team’s attempts to bolster

the forward line especially in recent weeks have proved fruitless.

It has been suggested that the club need to offload a player or two to fund more permanent arrivals, but what Sunderland

don’t really want to do though – especially before the start of the new season – is lose one of their best players despite the fact

their transfer model is to purchase cheap, young talents with a view to selling them on for major profit.

And a player who would fall into that model would be Jack Clarke, who has certainly kicked on at the Stadium of Light and

lived up to the early promise he showed at Leeds United as a teenager, scoring 11 times and notching 14 assists for the Black

Cats last season in a standout campaign.

Clubs such as Brentford and Crystal Palace are rumoured to have been keeping an eye on Clarke in the close season, but it is

Championship title-winners Burnley who have been the only real suitors for his services.

Alan Nixon reported that the Clarets had multiple offers rejected earlier in the summer for the 22-year-old, with the last of

those bids being up to £10 million in instalments, and it was unclear as to whether the Premier League returnees would

come back with a bigger offer considering they are such big fans.

What is the latest on Burnley’s interest in Jack Clarke?

Even though last week The Athletic reported that it was unlikely that a deal would be struck to bring Clarke to Turf Moor due

to the differences in valuation, Burnley are believed to have gone back in with a fresh offer.

Per a report from TEAMtalk, Vincent Kompany’s side have gone back in with a bid that is in excess of £10 million, but this

has also been turned down by the Sunderland hierarchy.

And that is something that has left Clarke ‘disgruntled’ due to his desire to play Premier League football this season, with

claims that the winger had a promise from the club that he would be able to depart if a £10 million offer or more came in for

his services.

It appears that Sunderland are playing hard-ball though when it comes to Clarke’s future and will only settle for the best

possible price for his services, and that price appears to be £15 million.

According to a report from Alan Nixon on Patreon, that is the figure that the Black Cats are looking for in order to cash in on

Clarke – one that is leaving the Lancashire outfit increasingly frustrated as they prepare to move on to other options.

What is Jack Clarke’s contract situation with Sunderland?

Signing on a permanent basis from Tottenham Hotspur last summer following a successful loan stint on Wearside, Clarke

put pen to paper on a four-year deal with the Black Cats.

That means he has three years remaining on his contract, putting Sunderland in an extremely strong position when it comes

to trying to keep hold of their prized asset.

TEAMtalk did report in early June that Sunderland were looking to give the forward an improved contract in order to fend

off top flight interest, but those talks stalled.